JPH07335002A - Pilot lamp for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide such a pilot lamp constructed in a small size capable of sharpening a boundary for a light source to be lit on and lit off and thus easily showing such a lighting condition that a light emission area in the pilot lamp is dynamically changed. CONSTITUTION:A power supply circuit 240 activates a switch control circuit 220 and a flasher switch control circuit 210 by taking up part of power fed to a required pilot lamp. First, the switch control circuit 220 indicates the flasher switch control circuit 210 to light on all corresponding to a preset indication pattern. Second, the switch control circuit 220 indicates the flasher switch circuit 210 to light off at certain time periods in sequence from a group on the center side of a track 4. Accordingly, the flasher switch circuit 210 lights off a group of light emitting diode arrays 100 in sequence from the end. Once all groups are lit off, they are all lit on again and the above operation is repeated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an indicator light suitable for auxiliary use in an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, various indicator lights are attached to a vehicle for ensuring safety. For example, an automobile is equipped with a turn signal indicator, a brake lamp and the like.
The specifications of these types of indicator lamps are often legally regulated in terms of brightness, display surface area, lighting mode, display color, and the like.

By the way, a driver of a vehicle wants to ensure safety more securely, wants to display a special display from his own hobby point of view. You may want to provide a supplementary display. For example, in the case of an automobile, there is such a request when it is desired to call the attention of the driver of the following vehicle, or when it is difficult for the driver of the following vehicle to see only the legal indicator light. In particular, in the case of vehicles such as trucks and buses where the driver's seat is at a high position, the driver's line of sight becomes high, and it is difficult to confirm the display of the indicator light of the preceding vehicle. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that the driver of the following vehicle, especially a driver such as a truck, visually recognizes the driving state of the own vehicle. Therefore, an auxiliary indicator lamp has been developed to meet such a demand.

In general, legally designated indicator lamps use incandescent bulbs that are easy to secure a certain level of luminance in order to clear various regulations, particularly luminance regulations. Even in the auxiliary indicator lamp, conventionally, an incandescent lamp is generally used as a light source. This is because the underlying technical idea is to use a light source with high brightness to draw attention.

[0005]

By the way, it is desired by the user that the auxiliary indicator light is not limited to simply performing the same display as the legal indicator light, and can realize more various display modes. Therefore, it is necessary to use a plurality of light sources.

However, in the conventionally used incandescent bulb,
Since they are physically large, if a plurality of them are arranged, there is a problem that the size of the whole indicator light becomes large. In the case of assistance or the like, it is not mounted at the time of production of the vehicle but after sale, so that it is not easy to embed it in the body. Therefore, unless it is installed near the rear window in the passenger compartment, it is unavoidable that it protrudes from the body surface. Therefore, there is a demand to avoid increasing the size.

In the case of an incandescent bulb, in addition to the problem of size,
There is a problem of heat generation, and there is a problem that it is difficult to perform high density arraying. Further, since the directivity is not strong, the emitted light easily spreads. Therefore, there arises a problem that the boundary between the light source that is turned on and the light source that is not turned on cannot be sharpened. This is not preferable for realizing a lighting mode in which the light emitting region is dynamically changed in the indicator lamp.

An object of the present invention is to make it compact, and to make the boundary between a light source that is turned on and a light source that is not turned on sharp, so that the light emitting area is dynamically changed in the indicator lamp. An object of the present invention is to provide an indicator light that can easily realize such a lighting mode.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a light emitting element array in which a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged in a plane in a display lamp used by being mounted on a vehicle, A vehicular indicator lamp is provided, which is provided with a lighting control device that groups each of the light emitting elements of the light emitting element array into a plurality of predetermined groups and controls the blinking for each group.

The light emitting device may be a light emitting diode and the light emitting device array may be a light emitting diode array. In this case, the light emitting diode array can be configured by arranging the light emitting diodes in a matrix, for example.

[0011]

In the present invention, light emitting elements such as light emitting diodes are lit by using, for example, an array of light emitting elements arranged in a matrix, so that the thickness of the indicator lamp can be reduced, and as a whole. Miniaturization is possible. Further, since a large number of light emitting elements are arranged, sufficient brightness can be secured as a whole. Further, since light emitting elements having a strong directivity such as light emitting diodes are arranged, the boundary line between the small amount area and the spotting area is sharp.

Further, it is possible to change the pattern of turn-off and turn-on by the target pattern by instructing in advance.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 show the construction of an embodiment of the indicator lamp of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the indicator lamp is viewed from the front side, and the right side portion has a cover cut out so that the inside can be seen. Further, FIG. 2 shows only a part of the internal structure.

The indicator lamp of this embodiment has a mounting base 10
And a cover 30 that covers the front side of the mounting base 10.
And a light emitting diode array 100 and a lighting control device 200 housed in the mounting base 10, and a substrate 40 for supporting them.

The mounting base 10 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape, and is wholly molded integrally with plastic. At least a part of the front side is provided with a metal film by plating or the like in order to increase the reflectance of the surface. The lead wires 43, 4 are provided on the rear surface side of the mounting base 10.
A cylinder 12 is provided for guiding the 4. Further, the edge of the mounting base has a frame-like structure that protrudes to the front side so as to surround the inside. The front side of the frame structure portion 14 is an inward slope 16. Then, the metal film is provided at least on the slope 16. That is, the sloped surface 16 functions as a reflector for reflecting the light traveling laterally forward.
In this embodiment, the slope 16 is not a flat surface,
It is formed so as to form a paraboloid. This enhances the effect of directing the reflected light forward.

Further, the inclined surface 16 is provided with mounting screw holes 18 at four corners. A screw (not shown) is inserted into the screw hole 18 and screwed into the wall surface of the vehicle body to be mounted, so that the mounting base 10 is fixed to the vehicle body.

A sheet 20 for sealing is laid on the bottom surface of the mounting base 10. In the case of the present embodiment, this sheet 20 covers the entire bottom surface of the mounting base 10 except that holes are formed at the positions where the lead wires 43 and 44 are drawn out. The sealing sheet 20 is mounted to seal the contact surface between the cover 30 and the mounting base 10 and to absorb vibration. This sheet 20
Is formed of, for example, an elastic member, more specifically, a rubber sheet, for example.

The cover 30 has the same color as that used for display,
It is made of a material that easily transmits light. As the material of the cover 30, for example, synthetic resin, glass or the like is used. In this embodiment, it is made of acrylic resin. The cover 30 is formed in a shallow box shape, and the box opening is brought into contact with the sealing sheet 20 on the bottom surface of the mounting base 10 to allow the outer peripheral portion 36 and the frame structure portion 14 of the mounting base.
The melted melt is filled between the inner peripheral portion 14a and
The cover 30 is fixed to the mounting base 10 and sealed. .

The inside portion of the front surface of the cover 30, that is,
A lens 34 is provided on the surface side of the light emitting diode array 100, which will be described later, facing the light emitting diode 101. The lens 34 is a lens that is convex toward the light emitting diode side, and diffuses the light from the light emitting diode 101. As a result, when viewed from the front of the cover 30, the brightness distribution on the front of the cover 30 when the front light emitting diode is turned on becomes substantially uniform. The lens 34 has a shape in which the curvature in the cross section in the row direction and the curvature in the column direction of the light emitting diode array 100 described later are different. Specifically, the curvature in the row direction is R = 7.5, and the curvature in the column direction is R = 6. This is because diffusion in the row direction is suppressed to be smaller than that in the column direction, and the brightness difference at the boundary between the lit group and the unlit group is sharpened.

Further, the cover 3 is provided on a part of the inner peripheral side of the opening of the cover 30 (in the present embodiment, the central part of one pair of opposing sides).
An engaging groove 32 for mounting the substrate 40 is provided at 0. An engagement protrusion 42 provided on a substrate 40 described later engages with the engagement groove 32.

The substrate 40 is specifically composed of a printed circuit board. The light emitting diode 101 is mainly attached to one surface (front surface) of the light emitting diode array 100. The components of the lighting control device 200 are mainly mounted on the other surface. Of course, it goes without saying that wiring is formed together. Further, a connecting portion of the lead wires 43 and 44 is provided on a part of the back surface side of the substrate 40. And
The lead wires 43 and 44 are pulled out from this position, and the tube 12
Is pulled out to the outside. The lead wires 43 and 44 are
The cylinder 12 is filled with a molten resin, cured, and fixed.
That is, the cylinder 12 is sealed with the resin 50 and hermetically sealed.

The board 40 is provided with legs 48 for attaching the board 40 to the cover 30. The leg 48 is provided with an engagement protrusion 42 that engages with the engagement groove 32 in the inner peripheral portion of the cover 30 described above.

The mounting base 10, the cover 30 and the substrate 40 are assembled in the following manner, for example. First, the substrate 40 in the cover 30 and the light emitting diode 101
Is inserted so that it faces the front side of the cover 30. And
The engagement protrusion 42 provided on the leg 48 is inserted until it engages with the engagement groove 32 in the inner peripheral portion of the cover 30.
Then, the engagement protrusion 42 is engaged with the engagement groove 32 to fix the substrate 40 to the cover 30.

Next, the sealing sheet 20 is laid on the bottom surface of the mounting base 10. Then, the cover 30 is attached to the base 1
It is placed on the sheet 20 in a 0 shape. Then, the space between the outer periphery of the cover 3 and the inner peripheral wall of the mounting base 10 is fixed and sealed with the resin 50. Prior to this, the lead wires 43 and 44 are
It is pulled out through the tube 12. Then, for the purpose described above, the resin 46 is sealed. As a result, the device of this embodiment is provided.

The light emitting diode array 100 is constructed by arranging a plurality of light emitting diodes 101 on a substrate 40 in a matrix. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
They are arranged in 7 rows and 10 columns. Further, in this embodiment, one group is configured for each column, and 10 groups of 1G-10G are set. In each group, the light emitting diodes 101 are connected in series, one end thereof is connected to the power supply circuit 240 (see FIG. 3), and the other end is connected to each group via the current limiting resistor 102,
It is connected to a blinking switch circuit 210 (see FIG. 3) described later.

As the light emitting diode 101, for example,
A light emitting diode having directivity that emits a light beam in the range of 15 ° to 30 ° around the center line of the light emitting diode is used. As a result, the emission range of each light emitting diode is limited, and the difference in brightness at the boundary between lighting and non-lighting can be increased.

In the lighting control device 200, a blinking switch circuit 210 is turned on and off for each group of 1G-10G of the light emitting diode array 100, and the blinking operation of the blinking switch circuit 210 is performed in a predetermined blinking pattern. A switch control circuit 220 for controlling the light emitting diode 101, an instruction switch 230 for instructing the switch control circuit 220 of a blinking pattern,
Power supply circuit 2 that supplies power for operating the lighting control circuit
And 40.

The blinking switch circuit 210 is provided with a switch circuit (not shown) corresponding to each of the power supply line groups connected to each group of 1G-10G of the light emitting diode array 100. Therefore, it is possible to turn on / off each group independently such that all groups are turned on, all groups are turned off, only a specific group is turned on, and only a specific group is turned off.

The switch control circuit 220 instructs the blink control circuit 210 which group to turn on / off according to the passage of time. Therefore, it has a timer circuit (not shown) for timing of turning on / off.

In this embodiment, four instruction switches 230 are provided. Then, a predetermined lighting pattern is instructed by a combination of ON / OFF of those switches. The lighting pattern is, for example, simply all lights /
To turn off all lights, to sequentially shift the groups to be turned on or off, to sequentially increase the number of lighting groups, and then to turn on all lights at the end. It is possible to turn off all lights, and when sequentially turning on or off, by sequentially turning on or off adjacent groups, it is possible to move the boundary line between the lighting region and the non-lighting region sequentially. is there.

The power supply circuit 240 does not have a power supply by itself in this embodiment. The power supply branches off from the power supply line leading to the legal indicator light and takes in the required power. Then, it detects that power is supplied to the power supply line, activates the switch control circuit 220 and the blinking switch circuit 210, supplies operating power to them, and
It enables power supply to the light emitting diode array 100. Then, according to the control of the blinking switch circuit, power is supplied to each group of 1G-10G of the light emitting diode array 100.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with further reference to FIGS. In this operation example, two types of usage modes will be described. A direction indicator light and a brake light.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which the indicator lamp of this embodiment is attached to the luggage compartment rear door 5 of the truck 4. In this example, the direction indicator lights 1L and 1R and the brake lights 2L and 2R are mounted at positions within 2 m above the ground. The direction indicator lights 1L and 1R are set so as to operate on left and right objects. In addition, the display colors of the direction indicator lights 1L and 1R are set so as to emit light at amber. On the other hand, the same brake lights 2L and 2R are attached. Further, the display colors of the brake lights 2L and 2R are set so as to emit light in red. The truck 4 is provided with legal indicator lights 3L and 3R.

Direction indicator lights 1L and 1R and brake light 2
To attach L and 2R, a hole for inserting the tube 12 on the bottom surface of the attachment base 10 is first formed.
Then, this cylinder is inserted into the hole, and the mounting base 10
Is pressed against the door surface, a screw is screwed into the door through the screw hole 18 to attach the base 10. The lead wires 43 and 44 are then connected to the corresponding wires connected to the legal indicator light. The mounting base 10
When attaching, the fixing can be performed with an adhesive or a combination of an adhesive and a screw.

First, the direction indicator lamps 1L and 1R are turned on by the instruction switch 230 in the lighting control device 200.
A combination of the above and is set so as to light up in a pattern. That is, from the fully lit state, the groups adjacent to the group at the end are sequentially extinguished, the number of extinguished groups is sequentially increased, and all extinguished are finally extinguished, which is set to be repeated at a constant cycle. In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, the increasing direction of the number of extinguished groups, that is, the increasing direction of the extinguished state is set to go outward from the center of the track 4. As a result, the boundary line E between the illuminated area B and the extinguished area D seems to move outward from the center side of the track.
Therefore, it is suitable for direction indication.

On the other hand, the brake lights 2L and 2R are the same as the instruction switch 2 in the lighting control device 200 in this embodiment.
It is set by 30 to simply turn on all lights and turn off all lights.

Next, it is assumed that the truck 4 gives a direction while traveling. In this case, of the legal indicator lights on the side where the vehicle is about to turn, power is supplied by the power supply line so that the indicator used for direction indication blinks at a constant cycle. Therefore, the power supply circuit 240 of the indicator lamp of the present embodiment takes in a part of the power and activates the switch control circuit 220 and the blinking switch control circuit 210. Then, the switch control circuit 2
The 20 first instructs the flashing switch control circuit 210 to turn on all lights according to the preset display pattern as described above (see FIG. 6A). Next, the switch control circuit 220 sequentially instructs the blinking switch circuit 210 to turn off the light from the group on the central side of the track 4 at regular time intervals. In response to this, the blinking switch circuit 210
Sequentially turns off the group of light emitting diode arrays 100 from the end (see FIGS. 6B to 6D). Then, when all the groups are extinguished, the above-described operation is repeated by setting all the lighting states again (FIG. 6 (e)).

As a result, the boundary line E between the light-off area D and the light-on area B can be seen by the driver of the following vehicle so as to repeatedly move from the center side of the truck 4 toward the outside. Therefore, even when the legal indicator light 3 is difficult to see, the driver of the following vehicle can be surely made to visually recognize the direction instruction.

Further, in order to notify the driver of the succeeding vehicle that the vehicle will be stopped in advance, the above-described direction indicating operation may be simultaneously performed for the left and right indicator lights 1L and 1R.

Next, the braking lights 2L and 2R activate the switch control circuit 220 and the blinking switch circuit 210 when the power supply circuit 240 detects the supply of power to the legal braking lights, and activate all groups of the light emitting diode array 100. Turn on the light.

Therefore, in the case of a brake light, the lighting control device may be omitted, and the brake light may be connected in parallel with the legal indicator light so as to light.

In the above embodiments, the example in which the light emitting diodes are arranged in a matrix in the rectangular region is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, they can be arranged in different shaped areas, specifically, square shaped areas. Further, they can be arranged in a parallelogram area, a circular area, an elliptical area, or the like. In addition, the array of light emitting diodes,
The shape is not limited to a matrix, and can be deformed in a staggered shape, a radial shape, a concentric ring shape, or the like.

The lighting control device can also set the group to be lighted according to the arrangement of the light emitting diodes. As a result, various lighting patterns can be realized.

Next, an example thereof will be shown. FIG. 7 shows an example in which the light emitting diodes 101 are arranged in a matrix and the groups are set in an annular shape. That is, the light emitting diodes 101 are grouped so as to be the central portion C1, the first ring portion C2, and the second ring portion C3. Also in this case, the lighting control device 2
00, it is possible to turn on / off various lighting patterns in the same manner as described above.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a lighting pattern in the case of the grouping shown in FIG. That is, in this example, the central portion C1, the first ring portion C2, and the second ring portion C3 from the fully lit state.
Turn off in the order of. Therefore, the boundary line E between the lighting region B and the extinguishing region D seems to move outward from the center. That is, in this example, the light-off region appears to extend outward from the center. In this case, since the movement of the boundary line E has no directivity, it is preferable to use it as a brake light rather than a direction instruction. It should be noted that if the order of extinguishing lights is reversed, the extinguishing region seems to face inward.

Also in the case of this example, the basic operation is almost the same as that of the above-mentioned embodiment. Therefore, individual explanations are omitted.

In the above embodiments, the light emitting diode is used as the light emitting element, but another element may be used as long as it has the same directivity and the luminance is equal to or higher than the light emitting diode.

Further, in the above example, the example of the indicator light for an automobile is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example,
It can also be used in indicator lights for construction work machines, transporting devices used in factories, warehouses, and railway vehicles.

Further, in the above embodiment, the group of light emitting elements is formed for each column or for each ring, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a group can be formed for every plural rows such as two rows and three rows and for every plural rings such as two rings and three rings.

[0051]

According to the present invention, a compact structure can be achieved, and the boundary between a light source that is turned on and a light source that is not turned on can be sharpened. Then, it is possible to realize a lighting mode in which the light emitting region is dynamically changed in the indicator light.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view showing an embodiment of the indicator light of the present invention, with a part of the cover cut away.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an outline of an electrical configuration of the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing an outline of a light emitting diode array used in the above embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of mounting the indicator lamp of the above embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a lighting example of the above embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view schematically showing an arrangement of a group of light emitting diodes, which is another embodiment of the indicator light of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a lighting example in the other embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Mounting base, 20 ... Sealing sheet, 30 ...
Cover, 34 ... Lens, 40 ... Substrate, 100 ... Light emitting diode array, 101 Light emitting diode, 200 ... Lighting control device, 210 ... Blinking switch circuit, 220 ... Switch control circuit, 230 ... Indication switch, 240 ... Power supply circuit.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An indicator light used by being mounted on a vehicle, wherein a light emitting element array in which a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged in a plane, and each light emitting element of the light emitting element array are grouped into a plurality of predetermined groups. An indicator lamp for a vehicle, comprising: a lighting control device that controls blinking in group units. 2. The vehicular indicator lamp according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting element is a light emitting diode, and the light emitting element array is a light emitting diode array. 3. The light emitting diode array according to claim 2, wherein the light emitting diodes are arranged in a matrix, and the lighting control device controls the blinking of the light emitting diodes as a group for each column. . 4. The light emitting diode array according to claim 2, wherein the light emitting diodes are arranged in a matrix, and the lighting control device includes a group of light emitting diodes in a central portion and an annular portion sequentially arranged outside thereof. Vehicle lights that are controlled by blinking for each group. 5. The vehicular indicator lamp according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the lighting control device controls to sequentially increase the number of groups to be turned off or the number of groups to be turned on. 6. The lighting control device according to claim 5, wherein the number of groups to be extinguished or the number of groups to be extinguished is performed by sequentially extinguishing or illuminating adjacent groups to turn on the extinguished regions. An indicator light for a vehicle for performing control to sequentially move a boundary line with an area in which it is displayed. 7. The vehicle indicator light according to claim 6, wherein the boundary line is represented by a line segment, and the movement of the boundary line is in a direction orthogonal to the boundary line.